“He is one of the most special competitors to ever play this sport,” Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said earlier this week after Ginobili scored 16 points in helping the Spurs to a 96-85 victory.

“I just have a ton of respect,” Budenholzer added. “I don’t want to see him when our team is out there, but I enjoy watching him the other 80 times a year.”

Said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr of Ginobili before the Warriors’ Nov. 2 win in San Antonio last month, “He still has a pretty good first step. That’s what has always stood out about Manu even as a younger guy, whenever that was, 18 years ago, 14 years ago.”

The Spurs enter the game 45-15 overall when playing Charlotte and beat the Hornets 108-101 at the AT&T Center on Nov. 3.

Hornets forward Nicolas Batum and Tony Parker led France to its first Eurobasket Championship in the summer of 2013. Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge were also teammates with the Portland Trail Blazers from 2008-15.

The Spurs are one of two teams in the NBA with only one player averaging more than 12 points per game along with the Sacramento Kings. While LaMarcus Aldridge is averaging 21.9 points per game, the team’s next highest scorer is Rudy Gay with 11.8.

In the first game this season between the Spurs and the Hornets on Nov. 3, Lamb scored a career-best 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting in a losing effort.

Hornets point guard Kemba Walker credits Lamb’s increased production to a rigorous offseason program that resulted in his former Connecticut teammate adding more muscle to his 6-foot-5, 185-pound frame.

“He got in great shape,” Walker said. “He got his body right. He put in a lot of work. He was here as much as anybody. And he continues to do that, every morning, he is in the gym shooting, in the gym lifting. It’s awesome to see him grow.”

Surging sophomore: Through 18 games, Spurs second-year guard Bryn Forbes has made more 3-pointers this season (18) than he recorded in 36 games last season.

Forbes finished his rookie season shooting 32.1 percent from long distance (17 of 53). He’s 18 of 41 this season (43.9 percent).

Forbes scored a team-high 22 points in the Spurs’ 108-101 win over Charlotte on Nov. 3.

“He’s just getting better all the time,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s getting more comfortable and starting to feel like he belongs, and that’s really important with a young player.”

Aldridge towering above: With an 11-7 record (.611), the Spurs are the first team with a .600 winning percentage while having just one player averaging 12-plus points per game since the Denver Nuggets started 14-9 (.642) during the 2012-13 season.

With All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard out rehabbing a quadriceps injury, LaMarcus Aldridge leads the Spurs with a 21.9 average. Next up are Rudy Gay (11.8), Pau Gasol (10.8) and Danny Green (10.5).

Aldridge has already recorded six games of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds after finishing last season with just three in 72 games.

Making an impact: Gasol is just one of three players in the league who lead their teams in both assists and blocks. The others are Cleveland’s LeBron James and Washington’s John Wall. Gasol averages 3.4 assists and 1.3 blocks.